Category: Opinion

Delhi Metro in the NYTimes

An awesome article about the Delhi Metro in the NYTimes. And yes, I was quite surprised (pleasantly, ofcourse), when I saw the above photograph. Wow. people standing in line to board the train.

It talks in depth about the challenges faced, and the key man behind the Delhi Metro – Shreedharan. And talks about how the Metro has monitors (most of them volunteers), who make sure, no one sits down on the floor of the metro cars, makes sure no one spits etc. It also talks about some new age management fundas – giving the employees a copy of the Bhagavath Gita, and explaining how it is one of the oldest management manuals.

Ok, now ends the good part, and I am going to start the ranting. The article goes on to rile the other cities of the country, and deride Gandhi’s vision etc – which it has no business to do. Ok, I am going to stop ranting, for the sake of keeping this article, family friendly. I am just going to quote the one paragraph which riddled me, and let you read through it, and allow you to seethe, and vent frustration by yourself.

India’s romance with the village, which Mahatma Gandhi believed was the most suitable environment for human development, is partly to blame for the decrepitude of Indian cities.

Uniformly, India’s cities are a mess. Bangalore, India’s high-tech hub, is strangled daily by traffic that has already eroded its image. Mumbai, the commercial capital, is riddled with overcrowded slums.

New Delhi, as the capital, is alone among India’s largest cities in having control over its own money and destiny. The Metro is the most visible example of that advantage.

How is that? I wonder why the foreign press has this fancy for New Delhi and no other city. Oh well, its good that they missed out some of the southern cities. We are better off, now being well known, I guess. We will just continue being the not-so-popular Detroit of India (Chennai), and IT Captial of the world (Bangalore).

Read the full article here.

Update: I was talking to an office-colleague, and he says, the last time he went to Delhi, he wanted to see the metro, and down he went to the Connaught Place station. The station and the trains was apparently extremely crowded, and there was no sign of any order in the place (quite contrary to the nice photograph above). He also said, that there were so many people boarding the trains, that a guard had to shove people inside the coach, and force close the doors, each time the train left the station. I am now beginning to think, the Times article is a paid article 🙂

Media rant

There are two things that totally ticked me off yesterday. Early morning, I open the door, and take the newspaper and walk in. I am usually a first-page guy. I read the whole first page, and if there is anything more that interests me, I open and read further. As much as I would like to read the paper fully, time constraints me so. So what did I see yesterday that irritated me so much.

There is no front page.

The whole front page is an advertisement from Thomas Cook or some such travel agency. I am seeing this more and more. There are other irritating variants of the same thing that I am seeing in recent times. Some time earlier this month, we had a hole in the front page. Yes. No figuratively, but quite literally. The hole was a cutout in the shape of a VW Beetle – that was the day Volkswagen introduced the beetle in the India. The other variant of this irritating new phenomena is an whole page advertisement in the whole front page, with news interspersed between it. You get my drift. I am sure you empathize with me, when I say, that I had to search for the news that day. (It is already a popular joke, that in Times of India, there is more sleaze, and you have to search for genuine news).

Second irritant: “See culture, See Europe”. Or something almost similar. This is the bold fonted advertisement of some travel agency. *Deep breath*. Does that mean, we do not have culture in our country. Oh, we are in such dire straits, we have to travel to another continent to experience culture. That has been my pet peeve for quite some time. When people come back from an European holiday, and tell me that they saw so much culture,  I sometimes ask them, have they seen all of the culture in India? Have they seen the temples of Tanjore, the Ajanta caves, the ancient city of Varanasi, the ocean temple at Kanyakumari, the beautiful rock carvings of Mahabalipuram? Most of them give me an absurd look, and walk away. But when I saw that front page ad, that ticked me off.

Well, that is my rant. And people object to it, this is my opinion, and you have the right to have yours. This is one of my objectives of this blog. And this is my space. ;-). Why am I sounding a little arrogant here. I have had people shouting at me in my comments, when I make some of these rants in the past.

Shock and Awe

Oh yes, that is how I descibe it. After contemplating a lot on what and how to write this news, I just got down to writing it. Shock and awe indeed. And awe in the bad sense. How could the Nobel committee be so stupid! They are supposed to be the smartest people on earth. Cmon, they judge the world and give the award to the smartest people. People of the likes of Nelson Mandela (who fought for racial injustice) and Mother Theresa (who did so much to the City of Joy) deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. I am not saying Obama will not. He has the right intentions. He has the right plans. But what the heck, he has not even started implementing them! And will he actually implement them? God knows.

Hypothetical scenario — Lets say 3 years down the line, towards the end of his first term,

(1) he gets the entire army out of Iraq – meaning there are no more insurgencies, and a peaceful democratic government is ruling there;

(2) he gets the entire army out of Afghanistan, where a similar situation prevails;

(3) Peace prevails in Israel;

(4) He solves the 100 yr old border problem between India and Pakistan ;

(5) Tibet becomes an autonomous governing body either within China or within India, or a separate nation state like Bhutan.

Even if he does 3 out of the above 5, I will say that, he can deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. For some reason, within myself, I will never see the Nobel Peace Prize the same way again. It is diluted.

If he had even the slightest bit of honor in him, he would have declined it, and said, I will take it when I deserve it. His statement of “I do not deserve it, but I will take it”, brought more anger to me. This is not a Cadbury Bournville Chocolate bar for heavens sake, it is a Nobel Peace Prize. Ok. now that I have gotten it out of my system, I will stop.

SRK denied ‘VIP’ treatment.

Please dont take me wrong. But, I do not think, there was anything wrong in what the US immigration did. Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) is not a VIP. Film stars are not VIPs. They do not get diplomatic immunity. People like Prime Ministers, ex-Presidents, Ministers for External Affairs get diplomatic immunity. They do far far far more important and critical work than, um film stars. I am not saying acting is not difficult, but please, acting does not guarantee diplomatic immunity or for that matters any special treatment in matters concerning a country’s security. I am not saying this, because it was the US. I would have said the same thing, even if it was the Somalian immigration did this, or, the New Zealand customs did this.

The very fact that he was ‘upset’, and then became ‘angry’, and then ‘humiliated’ fueled more anger and humilation in me, as an Indian. He said “He thanked God that his son was not there with him”. Why? He did not want his son to see reality? He wants his son to be in the same fairy tale world he is in, and he can also become “angry”, “upset”, and “humiliated’, 10 yrs from now, when he starts acting (we all know, sons of Bollywood stars become Bollywood stars).  And guess what, the US immigration give a totally different account, which if it is true, makes me more angry at SRK. The US immigration says that, he was identified for secondary questioning, and he had to wait his turn with several others. That waiting time was 1 hour. And then he was called, asked some questions, and let go. This is nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe for SRK, the Khan, it was very out of the ordinary – maybe he has never ever waited in line before. Duh. Good for him. More reality for him.

Today it is SRK, tomorrow Amitabh ? Next who ? Rajini ?? Then Suruli Rajan ? Kovai Sarala ?? Where do we draw the line ? India has a hundred film stars – each of them a VIP in their own right (and dreams?).

Anyways, I thought I would rant a bit about this here.

Army Recruitment Violence

Just read this news article, about violence at an army recruitment camp in Uttar Pradesh. Brings out a few thoughts/questions:

  • The violence apparently started because the candidates thought there were some irregularities in the enrollment. Is this really happening ? The US is also fighting a similar battle. Some very startling news arising out there, on enrolment based on color.
  • Ok, say that there was some evidence for this irregularity, is arson and violence, the way it should be handled. Are these ‘so-called-candidates’ the right ones, if they react to this like this. What will they do in the army? The army is all about obeying the commanding officer, whatever. And when I say, “whatever”, I mean “whatever”. This is what I have heard. Arson, violence ..? I cannot digest this.
  • The state government issued a statement to the central government, telling them to intimate the state government, before such camps are handled. Is that the solution? In my parlance, that is called “passing on the buck/blame”.

Why is the Indian cine/fashion world so mesmerized with everywhere outside India?

I have this nagging question, that I do not get satisfactory answers from anyone. I think you will get the point if you try and answer the following  questions:

  • Why was the IIFA awards held in Macau ?
  • Why is the Miss Chennai / ChennaiMan awards held in Colombo?

Why? Why? Dont we have world-class auditoriums in India ? Dont we have good audio systems in India? Or um, dont we have enough crowds in India? If you think, the answer is ‘no’ for the first two questions, then why the he** arnt we doing anything about this ? I am sure, no one will answer in the negative for the ‘crowds’ question. We (as in fans), love our stars. We will be there to cheer them up.

A very related rant that I have is, why does every movie have to have an international location song? Why ? Dont we have enough scenic locations? I am not saying New Zealand is not pretty (I have been there myself, and I can vouch for the prettiness). But the locations in which these shoots happen, are similar to dozens of location in Uttarakhand, Darjeeling, Coastal Karnataka, Nilgiri mountains, should I list more? Snow capped peaks, um, dont we have more than 80% of the Himalayan range within our territory. Even if we discount Kashmir as being not too safe, we still have a fair share n UP, Uttarakhand, HP, …. Well you want beaches – dont we have Goa, Coastal Karnataka (Murdeshwar), … — why do we always have to look at the coral greens in Maldives and Australia alone.

Why, why, why …

I am not going to get an answer .. but alteast I ranted my heart out.

IIT Thesis cheating and Satyam …

Ok, this is something that took me back by surprise. Really shocked me. All around, there is always talk about the IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) being the most premiere institute in the country. And today in the VLSI conference, it seems Prof. Vishweswaran said:

Too often, he said, candidates get pulled into industry before completing their studies and, more tellingly, too many submit a thesis stuffed with content copied from the Web, indicating a lack of commitment. “We need to get research as a matter of the heart,” he said. For that, he also called for more and better-qualified teachers to keep the momentum going and the passion alive.

Source:  eetimes

Wow. That is disparaging. Shocking from two angles — (a) Did not think the IITs could do something like this. (b) How could someone do that to research? Like the professor says, research should be from the heart. It is just wrong trying to steal ideas. Research in itself means (according to Merrian-Webster) studious inquiry or examination ; especially : investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws. 

Anyway, that is just my rant, after revelation that, no one is exempt from malpractices. 

On a side-rant, what is happening to Satyam Computers is also sad. Again, going against the etymology. Satyam means truth. And it looks like what their Chairman, Ramalinga Raju has been doing until now, is ASatyam (untruth). It is said because, I hate to think of what is going to happen to the 50K employees. 

Educated Morons

I hate to use this term, but there is no other way to describe some people. I work in ITPL, and I take the ITPL bus to work. In recent days, there has been hieghtened security, after the Bombay blasts. So there is a security guard who climbs up into the bus a little before the main gate, and checks our ID cards (company ID), before the bus enters the ITPL complex itself. And the usual practise is, after the bus stops inside the ITPL complex, in the bus bay, as and when we get down, we show our bus passes. If someone does not have a pass, he buys a ticket. I do not see anything wrong with this. 

Today morning, an E.M (educated moron) gets down from the bus, and when the security guard asks for the pass, he shouts “What the hell man! How many times should I show ID man. I just showed it to the guy outside the gate man.” He then mutters “Saale” and a couple of other expletives and walks away. 

If you want to be so arrogant and not co-operate with the authorities, you also do not have any business at all, to then go on TV after every terrorist attack (NDTV/TimesNow/…) and talk about the lack of arrangements and how India is lacking, and how terror is there everywhere in India. I hate these guys. 

And all this, for just a meek looking security guard asking him for his bus pass. Guys like these should get the following treatment:

Guys gets down and does the above obscene act.

Bouncers recognize act of disobedience, run towards him, shouting, “Offender, remove, Move Move Move ..”. Three bouncers close in on the guy, two lift him using the shoulders, the third stuns him with a stun gun. They move him to a special security area, frisk him, strip-search him etc etc. They then call the E.M’s office, ask to speak to the MD/CEO/…, and ask to send their security guards to pick up the stunned guy.

{Above act is completely fictional and no relevance to any real life incident,but I do hope some of these arrogant EMs get this treatment. I also hope such Bouncer crews operate in places like railway booking counters, electricity bill paying counters, etc, and treat queue-jumpers the same way.}

North India …

This may seem a rant to some … for the rest, please be informed, that, this is indeed a rant.

Conversation in the ITPL shopping area (tech park mall):

Random Person>   Hi … You look familiar.

Me> Hmm. I dont recall seeing you (noticing the TCS badge)

Random Person> [Extends hand] Im Rajesh, from TCS.

Me> [Extending hand as well] Mouli from {insert company name here}

Random Person> Ah, ok [Pretty apparent that he did not recognize the company name]

Random Person> Where are you from originally ? [Apparent that he has mistakenly assumed that I am a Shukla/Gupta/Singh/Dey/… from  my fair complexion]

Me> Madras

Random Person> [Pretty taken aback]. Oh ! [a brief couple of seconds pause] I am from North India.

Me [in my head]> Uh. Where is that ? Is that a separate country (like North Korea/South Korea). I thought there was only ONE INDIA. Where did that come from? Ofcourse I was miffed. Very pis**ed off indeed.

Me [aloud]> I was in {stressing} North India too, you know. Noida, for about 5 years.

Random Person> Really. [Apparent from his expression, that he is shocked that someone from South India (yeah like in the separate country we are), could survive in Noida that long.

Me> Nice meeting you. Gotta go. [giving him a quizzical look and thinking, “tsk tsk .. when will these guys grow up?“]

I have to say something though — it is not everyone who is like this. I have several friends from Delhi, and not all of them are like this. I know several who treat the whole country as their own, and freely migrate to different parts of the country, and also adapt to the local customs/society etc. Maybe it is just me — but I guess, I would not have gotten so irritated, if he had said, “Im from Delhi”. What is up with the ‘North India’ thing ; and the shocking expressions. Grow up guys.

Media spoiling the surprise ?

Sometimes I feel, the media sensationalism, is probably detrimental to the critical operations. An example is the splashing news on NDTV right now, telling everyone in the world, that 100 commandoes are being air-dropped onto the Nariman House for the final push of the operation. Ahem, Nariman House is a residential building, having TVs, which the terrorists are also watching??

Not really sure if all this is a good thing. I agree that, to a degree, it is helpful, especially if you have friends/family involved in this, and are present in the situation — it does help to calm the situation ; but giving out too much of the strategy cannot be too good either.

Update: I am glad someone else also feels the way I do —

According to NSG Director General: “One injured terrorist is still inside Taj hotel. The stage seems to be set for a final operation there and the media has been asked to refrain from doing any live broadcasts from outside the hotel.”

Update2: My sister says that, CNN-IBN was stating that, all telephone and cable television connections were cut off in the affected areas ; so that the terrorists cannot see ‘their own action movie’. I can see that very helpful for Nariman Bhavan. Not sure how effective it would be for Oberoi and Taj – since they would have their own satellite dish antennae.